Magnetic Field Sensor

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVE Corporation
(Nasdaq: NVEC) said that it has been notified by the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) that two patents are expected to be granted today.
The patents are titled "Two-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor" and
"Superparamagnetic Devices."
The Two-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor is patent number 7,054,114, and is
the grant of a patent under the application published by the USPTO as
number 2004-0137275. The invention is for a spintronic device that can
detect the magnitude and orientation of magnetic fields. Applications for
such devices might include Magnetoresitive Random Access Memory (MRAM), or
military, industrial, and medical sensors.
The Superparamagnetic Devices patent is number 7,054,118 and is the
first patent granted from the application published by the USPTO under
number 2004-0023065. Other patents are possible based on this application,
although there can be no assurance if or when additional patents will be
granted.
Superparamagnetism is the magnetic state of a material between highly
ordered parallel spins (ferromagnetism) and randomly ordered spins
(paramagnetism). The superparamagnetic effect occurs in ferromagnetic
particles smaller than a critical value or at temperatures higher than a
critical temperature. In conventional storage systems such as disk drives,
superparamagnetism can be undesirable because it limits storage density.
The NVE invention utilizes the superparamagnetic effect to improve the
accuracy of spintronic sensors where a small sensed field is sufficient to
order the spins in a superparamagnetic material. More accurate sensors
would be useful in a number of applications including military, medical,
and biosensor.
The grants will bring NVE's U.S. patent total to 38. The company has
more than 100 patents worldwide issued, pending, or licensed from others.
Links to the new patents and NVE's other U.S. patents can be found at the
"About NVE" section of the company's Website ( http://www.nve.com ).
NVE is a leader in the practical commercialization of spintronics, a
nanotechnology that many experts believe represents the next generation of
microelectronics. NVE licenses its MRAM intellectual property and sells
spintronic products, including sensors and couplers, to revolutionize data
sensing and transmission.
Statements used in this press release that relate to future plans,
events, financial results or performance are forward-looking statements
that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties including, among
others, such factors as uncertainties relating to the grant of patents in
the future, risks in the enforcement of our patents, as well as the risk
factors listed from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including our
Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports filed with the SEC.